Could Analytics Be The Key Advantage of a Well-designed Social Recognition Program?

How insights from social recognition programs in the workplace can drive business value.

Employee fulfillment and engagement based on higher pay is often an assumption made by most employers. However, data from multiple studies show that the link between compensation and job satisfaction shows only a very small correlation between the two. On the contrary, exceptional work performance is highly related to social recognition, motivation, and overall employee appreciation.  

What is social recognition?

Social recognition is the process of encouraging, sharing and celebrating the employees’ success together, by giving the entire organization a platform which helps create meaningful relationships with one another. This does not only apply to recognition from leaders or executives, as peer-to-peer recognition is just as important to a successful employee engagement program. When an employee is s recognized for a job well done or has gone above and beyond achieving their goals, this creates an intrinsic feeling of value that can strengthen an organization’s culture and shape the perspectives of the employees.

Why is social recognition important in today’s workplace?

According to a recent survey performed by Psychometrics, when asked what leaders could do more of to improve engagement, 58% of respondents replied: “give recognition.” Social recognition is a great way to empower, motivate, strengthen relationships, and increase collaboration and creativity. However, the value of recognition goes far beyond that. Technology can enable organizations to effectively capture the exchange of recognition, that indicates the quality of relationships between employees. With this data, leaders can obtain insights that not only measure internal ROI on the programs, but they can also use employee social recognition data to increase business value.

How data from employee recognition programs can help leaders advance their business.

1. Employee recognition influences business results.  

   According to a Gallup poll, only one-third of the people that were surveyed felt strongly that their efforts were appreciated within their last seven working days. Coincidentally, the remaining two-thirds of the employees who said they hadn’t received recognition within that same timeframe, reported they were twice as likely to leave the company compared to their peers. Businesses that are investing in data backed employee recognition programs are using real-time analytics to boost employee engagement rates, recognize rising stars and feature learnings from top-line contributors. Why? Because engaged companies outperform non-engaged companies by 167% according to the same study.

2. Detect influencers and exemplary behaviors within departments.

   C-Level executives are the known connectors within organizations, but being able to identify the everyday hidden influencers that exist within each department is the key to promoting internal collaboration and the quality of connections.  By having a real-time view of positive employee workplace interactions, AI-based social recognition platforms like StarMeUp OS make it possible for leaders to use data to identify top influencers within their company. It helps to identify the employees who are shaping not only the culture of the organization by having a positive influence on their colleagues but also having an impact on the bottom line, helping create a better-networked organization.

3. Obtain critical business insights.

   Data on social recognition is most often tied to satisfaction, productivity, work performance etc. But there are many additional insights that the employee interactions bring to light. For instance, when these behaviors are tracked effectively, leaders can begin to map the patterns of employee collaboration, contribution, work productivity within departments, as well as between departments and divisions. Successful organizations use this type of deep organizational insights to create a well-rounded working environment, by having a much clearer, quantified understanding of their culture today, and being able to set specific targets for what they want to shape their future into.

   

Companies that fail to recognize social patterns are falling behind.

While many companies have financial-based programs in place that reward employees for their work, these types of programs have shown a weak long-term impact on satisfaction and engagement. Employees have a much greater appreciation for an environment where they have clarity on the organization’s vision, and where they are openly recognized for excelling in work that ties to the organization’s goals and values. Companies that aren’t implementing platforms that foster these types of insights,  see lower engagement rates, lower employee satisfaction results, and even higher turnover rates as employees aren’t being fulfilled at their current jobs.

As the pace of change in the business world continues to accelerate, companies are facing an increasing challenge to motivate their employees, to continue to grow and increase their productivity. Data backed social recognition programs are becoming an essential part of solving this challenge, not only to encourage employee productivity but also to give organizations clarity on how they can continue to enhance their current recognition program while leading their business towards greater success.